<Begin Segment 20>

TI: But then you went a different path, so let's go back to your life. So from the Ontario area, where did you go next?

MT: Well, for a short time I did stay with the family in Nyssa, and by that time my sister was already in medical school and she came home on vacation one year. And I told my mother that I wanted to go back to Philadelphia with her. And they said okay, so I went to Philadelphia to work. Although my excuse was that I was going to go to school, I never did really get to school, but I did start working.

TI: Oh, so you said you might go to college or someplace in Philadelphia? And what kind of work did you find in Philadelphia?

MT: It was office work.

TI: And how did you like living in Philadelphia?

MT: Well, it's a big city, but having my sister close by was kind of nice. Then I met some girls at the... what did they call that? Well, the place to stay, the Quakers were running this house where they put up people coming from camp until they found...

TI: Kind of like a hostel?

MT: Yes, yes. I met a couple of girls, and so we decided to find an apartment and room together, so the three of us found a place.

TI: Were there quite a few Niseis in Philadelphia then?

MT: Well, apparently there were, but then the city is so big that it was hard to really get to meet people. So they had this International House, there was a Japanese girl working there, and she knew the problem. So she scheduled sort of a get-together once a month and they had kind of dancing or whatever. So we met some people through there, go down there.

TI: And in my notes they said that this is where you met your future husband in Philadelphia. So was it at one of these kind of events that you met him?

MT: Yes. He was stationed in Baltimore at Camp Holabird.

TI: Okay, so he was, was that with intelligence, or what kind of work did he do in the service?

MT: Well, sort of intelligence.

TI: And so the two of you started dating from that?

MT: [Laughs] Yes.

TI: So tell me about that. What was that like? Because he's Baltimore and you're in Philadelphia, so it's kind of long range.

MT: Well, yeah, we met at this dance and started corresponding. And he told me that he was getting discharged at the end of the year, and he wanted to know if I would marry him so he could bring me home. [Laughs]

TI: That's pretty fast.

MT: It was.

TI: And so what did you think about that?

MT: I guess being young, you're innocent, so I went along with it. And we contacted our parents, and it was kind of strange because my mother said, "If it's the Taketas that had a lot of children, I remember meeting his mother in camp in the hospital." My mother-in-law had a lot of health problems, so apparently she was in the same hospital room with my mother.

TI: This is at Tule Lake?

MT: At Tule Lake. So she said she knew the family.

TI: So it was okay with her?

MT: Yeah. I mean, there was no reason for her to object.

TI: Well, kind of a small world that your mom knew his mom from Tule Lake, and then you meet in all places, Philadelphia. So it seems fast to me, but I'm curious, so how many dates did you go on before he proposed to you?

MT: Not many. [Laughs] Once a month maybe.

TI: For about how long? For about a year?

MT: No, not even a year because I think it was a St. Patrick's dance that we met, and that was in March, and we got married in November. [Laughs]

TI: So half a dozen dates or so and you're married. Wow.

<End Segment 20> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.